Ouroboros

"I know you do not wish to leave your time behind," Ouroboros said. "But we cannot allow ourselves to come under the power of a demon. We will do what we must to prevent that."

"So, you'll kill us?" Ryleigh asked

The snake's tongue flicked out, and Ryleigh shivered. "Only if absolutely necessary. There will come a moment when you have no choice but to ally with us." The serpent lifted his head, tasting the air. "I believe that time is upon us. Remember my offer, Ryleigh Elaine O'Connor."

The ouroboros shrank, abruptly returning to its original five-by-four-inch size. Grabbing the broach, Ryleigh tucked it into her purse and eased the tattered curtain aside. She peered out at the street just in time to see a car bounce over the curb and screech to a halt. Dropping the curtain, she turned to Nate.

"I thought you said no one comes here?"

He peered through a long tear in the curtain the next window over. "They don't. Leastways not in fancy cars like that one. The people who shack up on this block come in at night, and they drive nothing but their own two feet."

He was still watching the street and stiffened suddenly. "Oy! Would you look at this!"

Ryleigh hurried to pull the curtain aside again, careful to keep herself in shadow.

The car doors opened and two people stumbled out, a man and a woman. The man fell to the street and the woman tumbled out, a roiling mass of green and black smoke clawing after her.

The smoke solidified, and Ryleigh gasped.

Drakat had found them.

"I have to go out there and help them," Ryleigh said.

"Beggin' your pardon, ma'am, but no. You don't." The boy edged his way toward the front door, picking up speed when Ryleigh headed for it.

"Yes, I do. You stay here, run out the back if she gets past me." Ryleigh made to brush past him, and he put a hand on her arm, holding her back.

"No. I got you into this, and I'll get you out, but you have to listen to me. Them folks have their troubles. I can see that and I'm sorry for it, but I can't let you go out there. Drakat's gunning for us, sure enough. We'd be idiots to run into her talons."

She brushed the black, feathery hair from his eyes. "And if Imogen sent them to help us?"

Nate leaned out of reach of her gentle fingers, stretching to look through the tear in the curtain again as the house shook with a solid 'whump' and dust sifted over them from the rafters.

"They got a wyvern and plenty of magick. They don't need help from us," he replied stubbornly.

She pulled him away to have a look for herself. There was indeed a wyvern, but it didn't look like it was helping the couple any. The woman had two snakes hanging from her and a nasty scrape on her leg. The man... well, he hadn't been injured, but judging by Drakat's posture, it was only a matter of time.

Even as the thought struck her, the woman leaped between Drakat and the man, holding a transparent shield. As Ryleigh watched, the shield changed, curving into a bowl, sending Drakat's curse back on her.

There aren't many who can hold a protection spell that long, let alone change its shape in the middle of a fight, she thought. And the woman looks familiar.

The demon screamed something Ryleigh couldn't decipher and disappeared through a hole she cut in the air.

"See?" Nate said, staring through another window without benefit of a curtain, but keeping low. "They drove her off. They don't need help."

Rolling her eyes, Ryleigh put a hand on the door knob. "And used her own curse to do it. How long do you suppose she'll sit still under that sting to her pride?"

Without waiting for an answer, she opened the door and stuck her head out. "Here!" she said in a hoarse whisper. "Quick!"

The man and woman turned at the sound of her voice, giving Ryleigh her first real look at the woman's face. A wave of surprise washed through her.

"Charlotte Knox! What are you doing here?"

"Your mother sent me to help you." Char and Cole hustled through the door, closing it behind them.

Ryleigh's mouth dropped open in shock. "She what? How did she know... Never mind. Doesn't matter. I don't know what she was thinking sending you into a situation like this. She didn't even know what was really going on."

"No, but she knew you were in trouble," Char said. When Ryleigh just stood there, arms crossed and waiting for an explanation, Char sighed. "It's a long story. Right now, we need to move before Dra— the countess heals up and comes back. From what I've read, unless you kill them, demons don't stay down long."

"We should go. Now," Cole said from his position at the window. He'd been staring out at the empty street. He dropped the curtain and faced them. "While we still can."

A horrendous thump accompanied by the sound of tearing metal and shattering glass carried clearly in the still air.

"Too late," Nate said. "Come on." He ran through a door at the back of the room, leading the three adults further into the building. They ran through three rooms, each one leading into the next. The last room had a closet but no exit. "This way." Nate disappeared into the closet, leaving them no choice but to follow. Char slid the door closed behind them and turned to see Nate holding a piece of something — leather or cloth perhaps, almost the same dried out flaking color as the wall it was affixed to — for Ryleigh to pass under.

The building shook. "Charlotte Knox!" Drakat called in a sing-song cadence that sent shivers up Ryleigh's spine. "I know you're here! Come out and play with me!" Something crashed into a wall, shaking the house again. "Come out or I'll tear the place down around your ears!"

A THIRD CRASH SHOOK the house, making it sound like the demon was a one-being wrecking crew, clearing the land for new development. For all I knew, she might be.

I followed Ryleigh through the flap Nate was holding open and found myself in a short tunnel composed of wood lathe and plaster. Once through, I waited while Cole urged the boy on before coming through himself.

"She's taken your measure," Ryleigh whispered. "She won't have come unarmed this time."

Dread shivered up my spine. Even Doirsain might not be proof against a fully armed demon. Unlike most parahumans, demons could work all three types of magick. Besides their natural abilities like superhuman strength, healing and teleportation, demons could channel ley line power and use artifacts. Once a demon targeted you, there was almost no way to win against them.

Their usual prey was humans. The more ignorant and arrogant, the better. They usually left parahumans — witches, weres, fae, elementals, and the like — alone, because the odds were a bit more even. Only a bit, though. And if you had something they wanted, the usual was easily set aside.

Their only real weakness was they were sticklers for rules and contracts. Their own, anyway. Human law meant nothing to them, and parahuman law had only slightly more worth. Demon law, though... that they followed to the letter, even if finding loopholes in it was a sort of sport for them. If you made a contract with them and found a loophole, or if you could trick them into losing a game of wits, they would abide by whatever stakes had been set.

Usually.

Unfortunately, in the current situation, we didn’t have an agreement. There were no rules in play.

Which meant we were probably dead parahumans walking.

Looking around, I realized we were in the house next to the one we'd entered. I wondered if Nate had made the hole we'd come through or if he'd found it already created, but it didn't matter. "Where's the back door?"

"She'll spot us quick as a budgie on birdseed if we use the front or the back," Nate said. "You can bet she brought imps to keep watch."

"The boy's right, Char," Cole said, jerking his head toward the front window. "There are two imps sitting on the car — or what's left of it. I'd bet there are at least that many out back."

In and of themselves, the imps weren't a problem. There were three — I glanced at Nate and amended my count — three and a half fighters on our side, more than a match for two imps. The problem was they wouldn't go down quietly. And the minute they started squawking, Drakat would be all over us.

A fight with imps wasn't likely to kill any of us. After our encounter with Drakat, I wasn't sure the same odds applied, and I wasn't about to risk anyone's life to find out, especially since one of those lives belonged to a kid.

A thud shook the walls, jerking my attention to the closet we came in through. "Where did you go?" Drakat said, her voice playful, as if she was 'it' in a game of hide-and-seek.

Clutching her handbag against her front, Ryleigh gave me an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry mother dragged you into this."

"There was no dragging involved," I said, forcing a cheerfulness I didn't feel. "Two weeks in Ireland, all expenses paid? I jumped at the chance."

"I'll bet she didn't tell you there was a demon involved," Ryleigh countered.

I shrugged, and Cole snorted. I ignored him. "She didn't know."

"Wouldn't have changed anything if she did." Cole stretched out his hand to Ryleigh and then to Nate. "I'm Cole Delaney, by the way."

"Good to meet you, Cole." As Ryleigh took his hand, the wall shook again, this time hard enough to crack the plaster on this side.

"Charlotte Knox! Where is Ryleigh O'Connor? Bring her to me, and I will let you live."

Nate stepped closer to her, his hands clenching into fists as Ryleigh paled. "I think I have a way out, but you might not like it," she said.

"I'm down for anything that keeps us out of the countess’ talons," I said.

"We quite agree." The new, sonorous voice echoed in the half-light, bouncing off the crumbling walls and buffeting our ears like a storm-wind.

I watched, eyes round, heart stuttering as a silver black snake slithered out of Ryleigh's purse, growing as it moved until it was twice her size. The serpent coiled its lower body, its upper half hanging over her as she backed away, slinging the purse over her shoulder.

The snake's tongue flicked out, tasting the air. "And since Caraigama and I have no wish to fall into demonic claws, we would like to make alternative arrangements."

Cole brought his spear around, putting himself between the snake and Nate. I pulled Ryleigh to her feet and moving her behind me.

"He's a friend," Ryleigh protested, pushing me gently aside to stand next to me. "Sort of."

The snake oriented its flat, green gaze on Cole. "Put that away, little man, before I send it back into the ley lines through your chest." He turned back to Ryleigh. "You've decided to ally with us? Good. Once I revert to my original shape, you must pin me to your coat. Caraigama can transport all of you, but your entire party must be touching you when they initialize the transfer. Do you understand?"

Ryleigh nodded.

"What are we supposed to understand?" I asked as another blow shook the room. Drakat was going to break through in another minute, and I didn't want to be here when she did. But I didn't like leaping before I looked, either.

Pulling off her coat, Ryleigh tucked it under one arm and rolled up the sleeves of her cotton blouse. She wrapped Nate's arm around hers, skin to skin. "Don't let go for anything, understand?" she asked him. The boy nodded, and Ryleigh reached her hands out to Cole and me. "Trust me. We don't have time to—"

A roar, followed by a shower of dust, plaster and wood splinters rained down on us. "There you are! And you aren't alone! Ryleigh O'Connor, I've been looking for you." Drakat hurled a black energy bolt at us and I barely got my shield up in time to deflect it.

"Cole, grab Charlotte!" Ryleigh's voice was shrill with fear and I felt Cole's arm slide over my shoulder and across my chest, his bare wrist against the base of my throat. "Now, Caraigama! Now!" Ryleigh yelled, and the world spun out away from me, the colors whirling into a kaleidoscope I couldn't track or make sense of.

I released the shield. My hair drifted free, the white-blond strands floating into my eyes. Cole pulled me into his chest and I wrapped both my arms around his, closing my eyes as I held on.

A boom rocked through me, fading into a quivering silence

With a jerk and the sudden feel of solid wood beneath my feet, the trip, if that is what it had been, was over. I opened my eyes, still gripping Cole as tightly as he held me.

The light was still dim, but the room was completely different. The air smelled of peat smoke and some kind of meat roasting. The curtains were still there, but a different print with a ruffle along the bottom. Not new, but clean and unripped. A small, neatly made bed and a chest of drawers with a basin and pitcher completed the room's furnishings.

A muffled gasp came from the door and I spun to face it, bringing up my shield in the same motion. I really had to practice conjuring a weapon. It was either that or start carrying a pistol, which was going to be hell going through customs.

A small woman in a full-length dress and starched apron stood in the doorway, the clothes she'd been carrying falling to the floor. Her face darkened, and she clenched her fists.

"Cád atá tú ag déanamh anseo?" I had no idea what she was asking and glanced at Ryleigh, only to realize by her frustrated expression that she wasn't in much better case.

"She wants to know what we're doing here," Nate said. He spoke to the woman in Gaelic, and she gaped at him a moment before she responded with what sounded like several questions in a row.

He made a soothing motion with his hands as he replied, still in Gaelic.

"What is she saying?" I asked. "And what are you telling her?"

"I apologized for being in her home and told her the fae bewitched us."

"And she believed that?" Cole asked, his brows arching high.

Nate glanced at him without an ounce of humor in his eyes. "Course she does. Happens more often than you might think. Especially in..." He turned back to the woman and asked a quick question. She answered, and his eyes widened. "1847. She says that's when we are."

"Still Belfast, though, yes?" Ryleigh put in.

The woman nodded. "Of course you are, dear. And safe with it. The fae took my sister not long since. I keep hoping they'll send her home soon. Meary is her name. Have you seen her, perchance?" the woman asked in heavily accented but clear English. It shouldn't have surprised me. If I remembered my European history courses correctly, the entire country had been speaking English since the twelfth century.

The hope in the woman's eyes was heartbreaking, especially since I knew I had no choice but to crush it. But what else was I going to say? That Nate had lied, and we were, in fact, not victims of the fae, but time travelers running from a demon? I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but we haven't seen her."

Nodding, the woman bent to pick up the laundry she'd dropped. "It was a faint hope, but then, you must hold on to even that, mustn't you?" She stood, lifting her chin bravely. "How can I help you?"

"We just need a way out to the street, ma'am," Ryleigh said. "We can make our way from there."

"We could use a change of clothes," Cole said.

Ryleigh glared at him as she slipped her coat back on. "No, no, we don't need anything, just the front door," she said firmly as she turned back to the woman. "We appreciate your hospitality, but we don't want to trouble you any more than absolutely necessary." She turned her gaze to meet mine. "We need to get home as quickly as possible. Our people will be worried about us."

I took Cole's hand, squeezing to stop anything further he might say.

Our clothes were out of date for the period. His slacks and shirt looked odd, but my jeans and tank top were getting scandalized looks from the lady of the house, though she appeared too polite to mention it. Maybe she thought the faeries made me wear them?

Ryleigh's long coat hid most of her attire from view, but she didn't exactly fit in since she was wearing pants instead of a dress. Even Nate's worn jeans and t-shirt looked out of place.

Maybe we should change?

Ryleigh was already trailing the woman through the house, motioning for us to follow. We left the lady at her front step, emerging onto a street very different from the neighborhood we'd left in our own time.

Busy with foot-traffic and the occasional horse-drawn carriage, it was obviously a better time for the area than our own. Women bustled by, trailed by young boys in livery carrying packages. Men in tailcoats tipped their top hats to ladies as they passed.

I felt dizzy and out of breath, hurrying after Ryleigh who seemed to think that if we moved fast enough, no one would notice our odd appearance. I caught up to her, walking alongside as Cole and Nate brought up the rear.

"We are drawing attention," I said.

She looked around briefly. "Just don't talk to anyone. Don't touch anything, or eat anything or... do, anything. Boros said the less we interact, the better, and that includes taking clothes from someone who likely can’t afford to give them. And we need to keep the visit as short as possible."

"Boros?" I blinked.

"Ouroboros? The snake? He's Caraigama's guardian. He explained the rules of time travel. If we change anything here, we risk endangering our own future. That's why you try not to interact."

"He told you talking to people is dangerous?" Doubt slipped through me. I couldn't believe something as simple as asking for directions or eating a cookie in the past could be hazardous to the future.

"Conversation means sharing thoughts. Thoughts people didn't necessarily have before. You can change the direction of civilization with a single word."

"That sounds a little extreme," Cole said.

Ryleigh spun on her heel to face him. "It's not. Every decade is a decade of change. This one sees the invention of the telegraph, the rise of abolition, and a hundred other things. Discourage the wrong person, encourage the right one, and events are altered, eradicated maybe." She turned and walked on. "It's like dominoes falling. Alter the angle of one and you risk changing the entire pattern."

We fell into step and a few blocks later, she ducked in between two large buildings. "I recognize these buildings from our time. This alley is still there, then."

I looked back the way we had come. The lady and her house had disappeared behind us twenty minutes ago, but the memory of Drakat's rage gave me pause. "Are you sure this is far enough?"

Worry pinched Ryleigh's features into a frown. "No, but every moment we stay here, we risk changing something that shouldn't be changed."

"She's right. Let's just hope none of us stepped on any butterflies." Cole leaned in and put his arm around me, holding his other hand out to Ryleigh. "Nate, care to join us?" he asked, and the boy slid his hand into Ryleigh's.

"Ready, sir."

Gripping Cole's hand, Ryleigh whispered, "Caraigama, take us home, please?"

I didn't hear a response, but the world twisted away, the kaleidoscope spinning wildly, disorienting me, fraying my thoughts into white strands of hair trailing across my face.

With a lurch, the spinning stopped, and my stomach churned, trying to catch up.

I looked around, but could see little change in our surroundings until my eye fell on a dumpster near the back door of the building on my right. The smell of exhaust and roar of car engines assaulted my ears.

We were back.